The Wither
|spawn= When created by the player |Score = Unknown |Damage = Easy:3 Normal: 5 Hard 7 |drop = Nether Stars }} Withers are a new mob added in 12w34a (Update 1.4), but were originally left unfinished by Jeb, and hidden in the code. They were discovered through the presence of their new skin in the /mobs/ folder. The wither is a floating, three-headed skeletal creature. Spawning Withers could only be spawned with edited Monster Spawner, mods, or hacks previouse to the new snapshot. As of update 1.4, they can be spawned by placing soul sand in a "T" shape and placing three wither skeleton skulls on the top, similarly in creation to an Iron Golem. The wither will spawn with half health and slowly recharge health until it has maximum health, after which it will explode but survive and proceed to kill the player and any nearby mobs. The explosion is large enough to kill the player, even if they have full diamond armor on. The only things that protect the player against the explosion are a Resistance potion effect, Armor with either the Protection or Blast Protection enchantments, or Creative Mode being active. Trivia *The Wither will attack all living mobs (this meaning they will not seek out and purposely kill Zombies, Skeletons, Wither Skeletons, or Zombie Pigmen). *They have the ability to destroy all blocks (except for Bedrock). *Unlike the Enderdragon, the Wither's health bar only shows if the player is facing it. *Also unlike the Enderdragon, you can spawn the Wither an unlimited amount of times per world. Wither Skull Projectiles Withers shoot Wither Skulls as projectiles. Upon hitting a mob, it inflicts the Wither poisoning effect, draining the mob's health and healing the Wither. Note: The Wither will only gain health from the player if their hunger is above nine. Similar to Ghast Fireballs, this projectile can not break cobblestone or moss stone blocks, although it can break products of them such as slabs and walls. Bugs *The Wither is not visually affected by the lighting level of the area, always being fully lit. *In invincibility mode, the shield is not correctly surrounding the most left and right head. *When damaged and 'crunching' through blocks, both end portal frames and end portals can be destroyed by the Wither. Trivia *The Wither does not spawn in 12w34a and 12w34b because it can crash the Java Virtual Machine. *If the Wither has nothing to attack, it will stay still, moving very rarely. *Potions of Invisibility do not prevent the Wither from noticing mobs. *The Wither can be damaged by the explosions of its own projectiles. *Dying from the Wither effect has its own death message:playername withered away. *Withers are unaffected by fire and lava (like Nether mobs). *The command /give 383 64'will give the desired amount of mob eggs set to spawn a Wither. However, nothing happens when the player attempts to use it. *The Wither is classified as "undead" and therefore receives extra damage from a sword with the "Smite" enchantment. *It is possible to just walk forward calmly and the Wither's skulls won't hit the player, as it is constantly adapting its speed to its target. *The Wither Shield glows red when a wither with the shield gets hit. *The sky will turn slightly reddish when you look at it. *The Wither can break through even Obsidian, a block known for its hardness and explosion resistance. *Looting enchantment does not affect the Wither's Nether Star drop. *It might be possible, if spawned in the overworld, the Wither may be distracted by Spiders and other mobs (Unless undead). This can be put to use when defeating the Wither. *The Protection enchantment can block the Wither effect. *Wi'ther might be a play on the word Ne'ther', as they both share the similar end to the word. It could be because the look of the Wither looks like a monster in the Overworld, but in the Nether it's not much different from the other monsters. *The Wither got new sounds in the 1.4 Preview: the Idle sounds are similar to a distorted Blaze, the Hurt sounds are similar to that of the Enderdragon, and the Attack sound is similar to that of them breaking blocks. Combat Because the Wither inflicts an awful lot of damage, the best equipment for combat is a diamond sword (Preferably enchanted with Smite. The best sword for the fight is a Smite V, Fire Aspect II, and Knockback II) Instant Health II Splash Potions, Strength II Splash Potions, one or two enchanted gold apples, a Bow (Preferably enchanted with Power, the best bow for the fight would be Power IV (V if obtained before 1.3 or if Anvil is used), Punch II, Flame I, and Infinity I) and Diamond Armor (Blast Resistance IV resists the explosions, but Protection IV protects from the withering effect as well). Make sure to bring about a stack or two of arrows. Bringing or summoning allies (Wolves, Snow Golems and Iron Golems) may or may not be advantageous: on one hand, they provide a diversion and will cause damage to the Wither: on the other hand, they may die easily because of the explosions and get affected by the Withering effect, healing the boss for more than they damage him. However, if you create the Wither in a small and completely enclosed underground area that isn't too large (three blocks tall), three Iron Golems are sufficient to kill one without aiding them. Spawn the Wither, and quickly run away as far as possible, putting a large distance between you and the Wither. Do not stand near the Wither when it is growing into its normal size. It will create a massive explosion when it is finished, much larger than that of TNT or a (charged) Creeper. When it is finished, walk back and shoot at the Wither, and occasionally use your Instant Health II Splash Potions and at some point, eat your Enchanted Gold Apples. When the Wither drops to 50% health, use your Strength II Splash Potion and hit the Wither with your diamond sword until the Wither is defeated. This is a very effective way to beat the Wither, defeating it in less then five minutes with not too much struggle. An extremely easy way of beating the Wither is to dig out a 10x10 by 3 tall room and spawn 30 or so Snow Golems. The Golems act as a target for the Wither plus Snow Golems will also attack the Wither. Accompany this with your best sword (preferably with Sharpness and Fire Aspect enchantments), armor, and potions and you can beat him in under a minute taking little or no damage. Another strategy is to obtain a diamond sword with Sharpness II and Fire Aspect I, and full iron armor with Protection I or greater. As far as potions go, get four or so Splash Potions of Healing II, and two Potions of Strength II. As long as the Wither is constantly battered from the start of the battle, stronger armor may be unnecessary. A tactic that is relatively easy to pull off is to dig down near bedrock, and dig a long 1x2 tunnel (Longer than 30 blocks). At the end of the tunnel, construct a small room. Spawn the Wither in this room, then run back into the tunnel. Occasionally pop out and shoot an arrow or two at the Wither. As the Wither crunches its way towards you, just walk backwards through the tunnel. Once the Wither has reached its "Armor" stage, jump out and begin hitting it with a diamond sword. As long as you frequently throw down splash potions of instant healing, you should be able to survive even with iron armor. A more advanced tactic that is very rewarding would be to construct a cobblestone generator-powered grid above the player, spawn the wither about 15 blocks away, and stand under the grid. The wither will fly towards the player, but be kept at the edge of the grid, being pushed back by the constantly generating cobblestone faster than the wither can break. This allows the player to stand still and shoot the wither without retaliation until the wither is damaged to half health, where it will fly towards the player through the grid, allowing the player to easily kill the wither with a sword. Also, the player can rig dispensers about 15 blocks away to periodically shoot splash potions of health, which heal the player and damage the wither. This tactic is explained in greater detail in this video. Gallery 800px-WitherPotionEffect.png|The Wither potion effect after being damaged by a Wither Skull. Witherskull-texture.png|Wither Skull texture. 800px-Wither_Shield.png|The wither's armor that blocks arrows, acquired after it is brought below 50% health. Category:Hostile Mobs Category:Mobs Category:Bosses